


Turn

by Iamacarrot



Category: Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Cartoon 2018)
Genre: Angst, Grimdark, Hurt No Comfort, Major Character Injury, i don't know what else to put
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-21
Updated: 2019-03-21
Packaged: 2019-11-26 17:16:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,130
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18183473
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Iamacarrot/pseuds/Iamacarrot
Summary: If he had just been looking the other way...





	Turn

**Author's Note:**

> It's a Grimdark. 'nuff said.

This wasn't happening. It couldn't have been. There was no way, that Donatello was staring down at his baby brother, on a cot, with a breathing tube down his throat. Nothing but the sound of EEG heart monitor spikes, followed by the symphonic beeps and whistles of machinery filled the lab. A gentle hand fell upon Mikey's shoulder, but the unconscious teen didn't react. On the verge of what could be death, Mikey lay, steady, artificial breaths only tightening the coil of guilt in Donnie's mind.

How in the goddamn  _Hell_ could Donatello let this happen? How could he have said yes to something, that would most obviously go wrong? Why did he assume that everything would be okay? It was  _very obvious_ that Mikey didn't study the details of things such as crumbling buildings the way Donnie did. The clear signs of decay on the building, from the loud creaking, to the signs that literally read  ** _DANGER_** on them. These should have all been signs for Donnie and Mikey to hightail it out of the area.

But, because of Donnie's lack of interest, they stayed. Mikey had requested to walk around in the building, and Donnie said yes. With a happy cheer, Mikey had placed a sweet kiss on Donnie's cheek, before rushing up to the building, wandering inside, and giggling as he explored. It was the middle of the day, so the building wasn't nearly as scary as it could have been. Sure, Mikey got spooked by a few creaks, and the squeaks of rats, but he continued to look through despite that.

It seemed as if this building used to be a hospital, and Mikey looked around for medical tools, pretending to be a doctor as he picked up a scalpel. Muttering what he considered "doctor nonsense," Mikey walked around a large cot, humming and diagnosing a fake patient with some sort of scary sounding disease. Mikey then pretended to be the horrified patient, and dramatically wailed, giggling once his voice echoed. A loud creak then grabbed Mikey's attention and he tensed, suddenly not wanting to play anymore.

With a gulp, Mikey had dropped the scalpel, speed walking toward the exit of the fourth floor, and squeaking as he heard footsteps behind him. Whimpers escaped from Mikey, and he froze, squeezing his eyes shut, and beginning to cry as the steps circled him. A hand touched Mikey's shoulder, and he let out a sob, gagging as he soon caught a whiff of what seemed like a mixture of laughing gas, and tranquilizer chemicals. Mikey's sobs then turned into laughs, and he coughed violently, backing up as the hand dragged him back. Mikey's laughs had ceased to stop, even as Mikey was sat down, and forced to watch some sort of zombie-like doctor slam a foot through the floor.

From outside, Donnie had turned his back towards the building, unconcerned by his brother's antics. He had been  _so sure_ that Mikey would be okay! Mikey  _always_ came to his brothers when he was scared! There was no exception! So, when Mikey didn't run out of the building, and all Donnie heard was a loud boom, followed by hysterical, almost  _forced_ laughter, it made the Softshell's blood run cold. So many parts of his mind told Donnie not to turn around, that it was just a side effect of staring at his wrist band for too long, but Donnie knew better.

So, Donnie had turned around, being met with the split second sight of a flash of orange, followed by the rising dust of a collapsed building. No more seconds were spared, and Donnie was immediately scouring through the debris, bursting into tears as he found his baby brother, underneath a large part of what might have been the ceiling. A crooked smile was plastered on Mikey's face, and it stayed, even as Donnie tried to snap Mikey out of his sudden shock. A quick test of pulse deemed that Mikey was still alive, but just  _barely_.

When he'd returned home with an unconscious Michelangelo, Donnie was met with furious questions, ranging from "How could you have let this happen," to "Where were you two," and many others that made Donnie want to lock everyone away. It took a few tries, but Donnie eventually managed to scream his family out of the lab. Now, it was just Donnie, and his baby brother.

It had been ruled that Mikey had accidentally stepped on a used needle, which still had some sort of substance in it. After that, Mikey must have started hallucinating, and he landed in the middle of an unstable area, which caused a ripple effect, and led the building to collapse.

To think of those last moments before the building fell, was difficult, but Donnie, being a scientist, had to theorize. The substance in the needle, must have attacked Mikey's nerves, which caused a tickling sensation in Mikey's body. As a result, Mikey fell to the floor, which is when Donnie assumes Mikey either had a seizure, or simply began to have violent ticks. This must have led to the breaking of the unstable area, and that must have led to the building collapsing.

And, through all of this, Mikey was suffering in more ways than his poor brain could handle.

He was now hooked up to multiple machines, being forced to have air pumped in his lungs to keep him alive. If he needed more than air, Donnie knew not, and he couldn't do anything to find that out. Sure, Donnie was a genius, but he didn't have a medical degree. There was  _no way in Hell_ that Donnie was going to confidently do surgery to determine what other damage had been done.

And this all happened, because of Donnie's goddamn _lack of attention_. For the Softshell to simply turn his back on the brother who trusted him with his life, was almost like sending Mikey straight into the jaws of death, and expecting Mikey to return alive. It was Russian Roulette with Mikey, and it seemed as if Mikey was currently between losing, and living.

If it were possible, Donnie would ask if Mikey was okay, and expect an instant response. He couldn't, however.

So, Donnie simply listened to the steady beeping of Mikey's heart monitor. That was the only thing that would bring comfort to Donnie in such a moment. It was the only thing that was informing the brothers about whether or not Mikey would and could stay strong enough. And it was the only thing that could tell the harsh truth, without breaking down into tears.

The heart monitor didn't have any personal ties with Mikey. Its only job was to tell how well Mikey was faring. How quickly he was recovering.

Hopefully.

**Author's Note:**

> I'll never tell whether he makes it or not. -w-


End file.
